Child Of Darkness
by Talamack
Summary: Sunako has never had many good friends, and she's known few who have shared her love of the macabre. Then she meets Emiko, a mysterious girl unable to go into direct sunlight and the two get along immediately. But Emiko has some dangerous secrets...
1. Chapter 1

**Right, so second manga/anime story and first story for 'Wallflower'. This manga is quickly becoming my favourite and as soon as I find a shop that sells it (stupid Scottish shops) then I'll snap up as many as I can. As it is now, I can only find it online. Anyway, here's the first story. A bit of a taster.**

**And I got the brother's name from my favourite 'Contemplating Reiko' character. Now that's a good comic.

* * *

**

"Do you have your parasol?"

"Of course."

"Your gloves?"

"Right here."

"Your tablets?"

"Got them."

"All your school books?"

"In my bag."

"Well... I guess that's everything."

Shinobu folded his arms and looked down at his younger sister. She smiled up at him brightly, both hands clasped around her black parasol. Shinobu leant forward, looking into her warm brown eyes.

"Would you like a hat?"he asked. "You may be uncomfortable carrying your parasol around all day."

"Shinobu,"she laughed. "I've had this parasol for years and I've never been tired of it. I'll be fine, don't worry."

"Sorry,"the tall boy said, looking at the ground. "I'm just concerned about you."

"I know,"she said, taking his hand in her gloved one. "And you're allowed to be. I'm sure the sun around here is just the same as the sun back in England."

With a sigh, Shinobu ruffled his sister's dusty brown hair. "Go on then,"he said, nudging her towards the door. She pulled the little backpack onto her shoulders and turned to leave. Stepping behind the door, she opened it slightly and let a small crack of light into the dark hallway. Opening her parasol and blocking the sun from her face, Shinobu's sister stepped out into the light.

"Have a nice day, Emi,"he smiled with a wave. She smiled back at him, waved a gloved hand and tripped off down the garden path. "Stay out of the sun!"he called after her, closing the door. The door clicked shut just after her cheerful giggle reached his ears. Shinobu leaned against the doors wood and ran a hand through his brown hair. He knew that he would be on edge until his little sister came back that afternoon. He'd been worried anyway when she'd been living in England, but their parents had been looking after her. Now that she was living with him and he was the only one who could help her if she was in danger... He would have to be ready for when the phone call came.

To calm himself down slightly, Shinobu slipped into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. He pulled a small white bottle out of his pocket, popped the lid off, took out a small tablet and swallowed it with a mouthful of water. He took a slow breath and closed his eyes. If anything, anything at all happened to his sister, he would be ready.

--

"Class,"a teacher at the local school said to the class. "I'd like to introduce you to our new student who recently moved here from England. This is Kurosawa Emiko."

"Hello,"the girl said with a smile. The rest of the class looked back at her in confusion, unsure what to make of her. She had light brown hair that hung around her pale face in limp waves. Her skin was pasty, like she'd never been out in the sun and judging by the black umbrella she was holding, she probably hadn't. Her hands were covered by soft black gloves and thick black socks covered her legs. She was short too, and seemed too thin. They weren't sure about this though because her whole body apart from her face was covered. They had to admit though, that her eyes were wide and warm and that her smile was comforting and never seemed to leave. For that reason, they weren't sure whether she was pretty or ugly and were unsure how to act.

"Why don't you sit down?"the teacher suggested, gesturing to the rest of the class. The girl looked round at all the people there and down at the few empty chairs. Then her gaze travelled to the back of the room and her face lit up. With light steps she moved up the side of the room and sat down in an empty chair at the back.

Right next to Nakahara Sunako.

The black-haired girl slouched down in her seat, not looking up at the strange new pupil. Then she saw a gloved hand reaching out to the skeleton figurine on the desk. Sunako tensed, ready to snatch it away if the girl tried to take it, but she didn't even touch it. All she did was leave her fingers hovering next to it and tilted her head on one side to look at it closer.

"That's cool,"the girl smiled, dropping her hand to the desk. "Do you have any more stuff like this?"

"Yes,"Sunako nodded, not looking up. "I have lots of things like it at home."

"Wow,"Emiko said with wide eyes. "My brother and I have a few skeletons at home, too."

Sunako looked up in surprise. This strange girl with the permanent smile had skeletons in her house?

"I like them,"she said, resting her chin on her gloved hands. "But I must admit, my favourite things are the rabbits."

"Hm?" How did skeletons connect to rabbits?

"Yes, I make them myself,"she smiled, reaching down to the backpack that was at her feet. "I have one here." Sunako looked down in confusion, then her eyes widened in bliss when she saw what was in Emiko's hands. It was a small toy rabbit made of light grey fabric. One ear was longer than the other, one of it's button eyes was chipped and it's body was lumpy and misshapen. It was sewn together by thick, uneven stitches and these stitches also riddled the body and head where some areas had come apart. It looked like the kind of toy that would be carried around by a demonic child. Sunako loved it.

"Here,"the smiling girl said, handing the toy to Sunako. She took it gently, handling it like it was the most precious thing in the world. "I made him in England. His name's Melvin."

"Melvin?"Sunako blinked.

"After a guy I knew back there,"Emiko laughed. "I thought it sounded cute."

Sunako looked down at the strange rabbit in her hands, turning it from side to side to view it from all angles. She had never heard the name 'Melvin' before and she wasn't entirely sure whether she would describe the rabbit as 'cute'. Still, she couldn't say that she didn't like the thing.

Handing the toy back to the new girl, Sunako told her,"It's nice."

"Thanks,"she smiled, placing the rabbit on the desk. Then she gave Sunako a wide, dazzling smile and said,"It's nice to meet you. My name's Emiko, but everyone calls me _Emi_."

"I'm Sunako,"the hatted girl said, nodding.

"Nice name,"Emiko told her. Then she added,"Sunako, I've a feeling we're going to get on just fine."


	2. Chapter 2

**I always like posting the second chapter of a story. I'm not sure why, I just like it.**

--

Glancing warily up at the sun, Emiko rested the handle of her parasol against her shoulders and stepped out the door. She hoped Sunako wouldn't want to eat in a sunny area or she'd have to go somewhere else. Emiko had never planned on eating lunch alone on her first day. Luckily though, Sunako seemed to dislike the sun and wandered over to an area with several trees to provide shade. However, some small sections of light still managed to slip through the leaves so Emiko had to keep her parasol up for safety. She certainly didn't want to get burned.

Emiko slipped the strange box her brother had given her out of her bag. Her brother had insisted on making lunch for her, trying to make her life in Japan just like when she'd lived back in England with their parents. Back then, her mother had always packed her a sandwich or something for when she'd go out somewhere, but she'd never put it in a box like this one. Made of thin, dark wood with a little lid clipped over the top. It was a weird lunchbox. Then again, she told herself, maybe this was just what Japanese people put their sandwiches in. With a smile, Emiko opened the box.

"Oh,"she blinked when she saw the contents. "Where are my sandwiches?" Inside the box were different boxed off sections, each with a separate item of food. One was full of rice, another had fish, another had a strange vegetable. Emiko looked around, but nowhere could she find anything that could be described as a sandwich. Actually, she wasn't sure what most of it _could_ be described as.

Turning to her companion beside her, Emi started to say,"Sunako?" but stopped when she saw the girl staring down at the box in her hands. She seemed to be... drooling slightly. Hesitantly, Emi held the box out to her.

"Sunako, do you know what any of this is?"she asked, turning slightly pink at her own ignorance.

"You don't know?"the other girl blinked. She herself was holding another box full of slightly different food, but in the same basic style. Emi looked over at this curiously, then back at her own. With a sad pout, she shook her head. She'd been in Japan for several weeks and this was the first time her brother had made food for her. Up until then, she'd just made her own stuff. Japanese food confused her.

Sunako started talking quickly, pointing out the different things in the box and saying what they were. All Emiko heard was 'rice'. After that it was just a mindless babble. So, when the dark-haired girl finished speaking and looked down at the food with a blissful smile, all Emi could do was nod. She looked down at the food, poked it, sniffed it, then placed a tiny piece in her mouth. Chewing it slowly, Emi considered the taste that filled her mouth.

"My brother's cooking..."she said finally. "Is abysmal." With a twisted expression on her face, she closed the box and put it back down on the ground. The horrible, salty taste of whatever it was she'd eaten lingered in her mouth. Hurriedly, she took a bottle of water out of the bag by her side and took a large mouthful. Then as an afterthought, she took a smaller bottle out of one of the bag's pockets, took out a white pill and swallowed this with a second drink of water. She blinked slowly as the pill slid down her throat, then glanced over at the girl beside her. Sunako had already finished the food in her own box and was glancing down at Emi's. Emi smiled and nudged the box in Sunako's direction with one knee.

"Do you want it?"she asked. She couldn't understand why anybody would want her brother's awful cooking, but it was kind to offer. To her surprise, Sunako picked it up with shaking hands and tentatively opened the lid. Slowly, she placed a small piece of what Emi had just tried into her mouth. As the other girl watched, Sunako's eyes lit up with joy.

"Do you really like it?"Emi blinked, not seeing how anybody could enjoy eating that awful food. But Sunako ate more and more of it until only a few grains of rice were left in the box. Emi looked at the empty box handed back to her in amazement.

"This food is wonderful,"Sunako said in a perfectly serious voice, making Emi frown in confusion. "Who made it?"

"Um, my brother."

"He must teach me how to make food as good as this,"Sunako announced, getting to her feet. Emi watched this strange action with slight amusement, enjoying the dramatics.

"Uh, I guess I could get him to teach you how to cook,"Emi smiled, slipping the box into her bag. "He's pretty happy about doing stuff like that and- Oh." Emiko had taken her mind off her parasol and it had slipped slightly, so she quickly had to move it back to fully cover her in shade. Keeping a firm grip on her parasol, Emi closed her bag and glanced around to make sure none of her was in the sun.

Sunako watched this silently, then asked,"Do you not like the sun either?"

"Well there's a bit more to it than that,"Emi said, looking down shyly. "I, uh, can't go into the sun. I have a genetic disorder. That's why I have to stay in the shade."

Sunako was silent for a moment, blinking over at the new student beside her. Then she stood up and gently pulled Emi to her feet as well. "I'll take you to my sanctuary, there's no sun in there."

"Huh?"

Confused, Emi let Sunako lead her across the playground, into the school building and through a series of corridors. She wondered what this place was that could be described as a 'sanctuary'? If it was truly Sunako's sanctuary then would she feel right about intruding? Finally, she stopped in front of a white door on the second floor of the building. Sunako pushed it open and stepped in, gesturing for Emi to follow her.

Tentatively, Emiko followed the first girl into the dark room. She clicked the door shut behind her and lowered her parasol. A smile spread across her face as she looked round. Shelves everywhere, displaying various fairly gruesome items in jars. Gathered in one corner were mannequins which must be for biology classes. There weren't any windows in the stone walls so no sunlight leaked into the room, just like Sunako had said.

"It's nice in here,"Emi smiled, still gazing round the small space. Sunako had picked up a jar and was sitting in the corner with the mannequins. Slowly, Emi moved over to sit beside her. Smiling, she placed the black parasol in her lap.

"You're the first person who's actually said that,"Sunako told her, looking at the jar she was holding. She didn't see the sly smile on Emi's face.

* * *

The house was pitch black when Emiko got home, but her eyes quickly adjusted and she managed to make her way into the living room to find her brother slumped in a chair. His chestnut hair hung over his pale face when he looked up and smiled.

"How was school?"he asked, folding his hand in his lap. Emi wandered over to sit beside him on the same chair. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"I found her,"she said, dropping her parasol to the ground.

"And?"

Emi shrugged. "She seems nice. I almost feel bad about what I'm doing."

"Don't,"Shinobu hushed her, gathering her into his arms. "You know you can't do anything, you were ordered."

"I guess,"she sighed, hugging him back. "I just don't like lying to people." She paused, wondering if she would get a reply. "I guess it can't be helped, can it? Not since we're..." She tailed off.

"I'm sorry,"Shinobu murmured, stroking her hair. "Did anyone ask about the sun?"

"Yes. I told them I had a genetic disorder,"she said. "Another lie."

"Would you rather tell them the truth?"

Emiko was silent. Then, she managed a choked,"No." She buried her face in her brother's shoulder, knowing that tears would be pouring down her cheeks if she could cry. Shinobu hugged her back, wishing there was something more he could do. He wondered how his parents handled this, if Emiko even acted like this when she was living with them. Shinobu looked down at the top of his sister's head and told himself that this was only going to be for two months. Just two months, then they'd be gone. But no matter what he said, he still hated it when his sister felt like this.

Sometimes he hated that the two of them were...

--

**And that's chapter two, I hope you like it. Feedback is always welcome.**

**And I'm just gonna say, the reason Sunako and Emi were outside at first was that Sunako thought that Emi might like to eat outside. She didn't know that she couldn't go out into the sun.**

**Thank you for reading, have a nice day.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's chapter three up. I hope you like it. Be sure to leave a review with your comments.**

--

"Yes sir,"Shinobu nodded, speaking into the small black phone. "Rest assured everything will be ready on time. Good-bye." Flipping the mobile phone closed, he slid it into his pocket. Shaking his head to rod himself of the memory of the conversation, he stepped out of the living room into the hall. A skeleton set into the wall grinned back at him, but he ignored it, turning to call up the stairs.

"Emi, are you ready to go?"

There was a tiny scuffling noise from upstairs and then Shinobu's sister hurried down the stairs, one hand gripping her parasol, the other clutching a large black sunhat onto her head. On the second last step she tripped on the hem of her long skirt and tumbled in Shinobu's arms. He caught her and set her upright, pausing to look at her. Thick boots, dark dress with full length skirt and sleeves, gloves, scarf, hat and parasol. A little bag was also slung around her shoulders.

"Do you really need your parasol if you're wearing a hat?"Shinobu asked, glancing down at the umbrella warily.

"Yes,"Emi said firmly, gripping the parasol firmly. "I never go anywhere without it. And besides, I'm only wearing this hat so that both my hands can be free to carry all that food."

"Fair enough,"Shinobu grinned, wandering into the kitchen. A large stack of boxes waited for him on the counter and he went over to these to make sure everything he needed was in them. "So who's going to be there?"he asked as he opened the box on the top.

"Well, Sunako is,"Emi said, moving over to stand beside him. "And then there are the four boys she lives with, she calls them the 'radiant beings' or something."

"Radiant?"Shinobu frowned, sprinkling a fine white powder over the rice that vanished as soon as it made contact with the food. "What does that mean?"

"Apparently they all look so pretty that they're radiant,"Emi shrugged, not understanding the idea. As far as she was concerned, everyone was just as pretty as everyone else. "I only hope they won't be affected by what I'm doing."

"What does it matter if they are?"her brother asked, glancing round at her. "If they fall for your charm then it will just make it easier to get Sunako. Just go along with them."

"But it's not fair to them,"Emi sighed, looking down at the ground. "I'm able to make people trust and admire me, which is useful, but what if I accidentally do too much and they start to really care about me?"

"Then just tone down your aura when you're around them,"Shinobu shrugged, not grasping the depths of his sister's concern. "They'll get over it." As he said this, he finished sprinkled the strange powder over the contents of the last box and had stacked them all up again.

"You finished?"Emi asked, trying to smile, but too nervous to really manage.

"Yup,"Shinobu sighed, scratching the back of his head. "A whole bunch of food covered in _Essence of Onjou_. This will get them to like you, just make sure they eat it."

"I will,"Emi smiled, reaching out for all of the boxes.

"And this is for you,"her brother added, placing a bundle on the top. He gave a small smile as he said,"It's not much. Just some ham sandwiches."

Emi was silent for a moment, looking at this bundle. Finally, she asked,"With mayonnaise?"

"Yeah."

"Mum used to make them with mayonnaise."

"I know."

The two of them stood in the dark kitchen, looking up at this small offering of food. Without saying a single word, Emi slipped her hand into her brother's and squeezed it. Shinobu smiled.

-

"Why is it so dark in here?!"Kyouhei thundered, wrenching one of the thick curtains open and flooding the kitchen with sunlight. He stood for a second with the sun flooding over his body, like a holy light accentuating his form. Then a small, dark ball hissed past him and pulled the curtains closed.

"My friend is coming over and she does not like the sun,"Sunako spat, keeping a firm grip on the fabric of the curtains.

"What kind of normal person doesn't like the sun?"Kyouhei snapped, fighting to get to the window.

"She has a disorder, so she can't be in the sunlight,"Sunako said back.

"Well she's not here just yet!"

"I'm still keeping them closed!"

"Well close them when she gets here!"

By this point, their yells had turned to blows and the two began sparring in the middle of the kitchen. The three boys sitting by the table were so used to this by now that they barely even noticed.

"Who's coming round?"Ranmaru asked, glancing over at the two of them.

"A new girl in Sunako's class,"Takenaga replied, taking a sip of tea from the white cup in his hands. "From what I've heard, she seems to have a form of Xeroderma Pigmentosum."

"What's that?"Yuki asked, his large eyes filled with confusion.

"It's a genetic disorder which makes people sensitive to UV light because they are unable to repair the cells that UV light destroys,"Takenaga explained. Yuki blinked, frowning slightly as he tried to understand.

"Like in that film 'Taiyō no Uta'?"Yuki asked.

"Yes,"Takenaga nodded

"It's such a shame,"Ranmaru said with a sigh, leaning back in his chair. "Pretty girls always look so much nicer in the light."

"Is that all you think about?"Yuki frowned, annoyed that that was what he mentioned at the time. Couldn't he put his mind on anything serious?

Ranmaru was saved from answering by a small knock on the front door. Sunako paused where she was, hanging down from Kyouhei's neck and looked in the door's direction. Hurriedly, she jumped down to the floor and ran off to answer.

"That's her,"she told everyone. Then she scowled and told Kyouhei,"Leave the curtains closed."

"Fine fine,"he said, rolling his eyes. Sunako narrowed her eyes at him, then headed to the door.

"Hello, is this Nakahara Sunako's house?"a voice said when she opened the door. Sunako blinked out at the strange creature that seemed to be a box with legs. Then she realised that it was just Emiko carrying a large bundle of what Sunako hoped was food.

"Hello Emi,"Sunako greeted her with a nod that wasn't seen and Emi replied with a smile that wasn't seen.

"Thank goodness, Sunako,"Emi laughed. "I can't see past all these boxes and this is the third house I've tried. It's got a very pretty garden."

"Come in,"Sunako told her, stepping to one side. Emi tottered into the hall, her face going slightly pink by this time due to the effort of holding all the boxes.

"I can take some of those if you want,"the black haired girl offered, reaching out to take the boxes.

"Oh no, it's fine,"Emi assured her with a strained smile. "But if you could point me towards the kitchen that would be great." She followed Sunako's directions down the hallway and into the room where the four boys were all sitting. They watched as Emi struggled in with the boxes, only seeing her feet, hands and the edge of her sunhat. When she finally made it to the table, she gently sat the boxes down and stepped back, wiping tiny beads of sweat of her forehead.

"Sorry,"She apologised, looking down at the floor so that her hat covered her face. "It's really hot today. Um, Sunako are the curtains closed?"

"Yes."

"Thank you,"she smiled, taking the large hat off her head. The dusty coloured curls of hair fell down to hang around her face as she looked up to greet the people she was now meeting. Takano Kyouhei, Oda Takenaga, Toyama Yuki and Morii Ranmaru all looked up at her from the table, Yuki, Takenaga and Ranmaru all smiling kindly. The candles that Sunako had lit made light flicker over their features, casting shadows on their skin and highlighting their features. Each of them was an image of perfection, the sight of which had caused many a girl to start bleeding profusely from her nose. Emiko looked at them now, four angels gathered round a single table, and remembered what Sunako had said about them being 'radiant beings'.

"Hello,"she said with a warm smile that seemed to emanate a kind, comforting feeling. Then she turned to the girl standing beside her and asked in a quiet voice,"How are they radiant?"

Sunako blinked in surprise at her friend's question. Couldn't she see their perfection? "Because they're beautiful,"she said, wondering why she needed to explain it.

"Are they?" Emi turned again to look at them, then shrugged and moved over to the table. "If you say so." Smiling again at the boys she started placing all the boxes she was carrying out on the table and opened them, revealing the food inside. Kyouhei's eyes widened as he looked down at the contents of each box.

"Would you like some?"Emi asked, offering him some fried shrimp that she had seen him eyeing. She stepped back a bit in surprise when he grabbed the box and shoved one of the shrimp into his mouth. "Um... Okay then."

She pulled out a seat next to Ranmaru and sat down, smiling at everyone at the table. Remembering what Shinobu said, she sent out wave after subtle wave of affection, and ever so slowly made all the people in that room like her. They wouldn't have been able to detect it, they wouldn't have been able to explain it, but all four of the boys couldn't help but smile when they looked at the strange, pale girl.

Emiko was able to detect all of this and she smiled slightly. Still, when she bit into her little ham sandwich, all she could think was,'Just seven weeks. Just seven weeks.'


	4. Chapter 4

**This was actually going to be quite a long chapter because I was going to finish it off with Emi's brother turning up. Unfortunately, that turned out to be a bit too long so I cut it in half. This way you get an update quicker :)**

**Oh, and I've put up a link in my profile to a picture of what Emiko looks like (sort of anyway. You just need to change the eye colour) Next time I'll put up a picture of what Shinobu looks like. Check it out.**

--

A lone man hurried down the empty street, bathed in the light from a streetlamp above him. With shuddering breaths he looked behind him, searching through the darkness with scared eyes. As he continued down the pavement, his left foot caught on a stone and he tumbled to the ground, landing heavily on one arm. Ignoring the pain that had to be throbbing through him, he staggered to his feet and started off again, but it was too late. Out of the darkness padded a small girl, her hair in two ragged pigtails and her body clad in a dirty school dress. The man shuffled away from her, his eyes wide with fright. The girl looked up at him with dead eyes. A slow grin spread across her face, revealing blood-stained teeth. Then, without warning, the girl leapt forward and sank her teeth into the man's flesh. He fell to the ground, yelling in pain as the girl devoured him. More figures moved out of the darkness and descended on the man, ripping limbs off and shovelling meat into their mouths. It was a gruesome sight to behold.

And Sunako and Emi watched it with wide eyed interest. The TV screen beamed out the movie to them as they nibbled on biscuits amongst the skulls of Sunako's room. Emi had loved the decor as soon as Sunako had opened the door, running over to her mannequins at once. Then to the large candlesticks in the corner. Then to the collections of skulls. Then she just sat in the middle of the floor and gazed around her. Now though, her attention was fixed entirely of the movie, her parasol and hat lying discarded beside her. Sunako was exactly the same, not noticing anything other than what was happening on screen. It was when the movie ended and the credits started rolling that Emiko started speaking.

"Zombie movies are good, aren't they?"she said, keeping her eyes on the television.

"Yeah,"Sunako smiled, looking around for another DVD they could watch.

"But sometimes they can be tiring." Emi was still looking at the screen, ignoring what her friend was doing.

"Huh?"Sunako blinked, looking up. Zombie movies weren't tiring.

"Sometimes you can watch one and feel like your eyelids are getting heavier. So heavy you can't keep them open."

"I guess,"Sunako murmured. She certainly was feeling slightly drowsy.

"And sometimes you can't help but fall straight to sleep." Emiko looked away from the TV at this point and her wide brown eyes met Sunako's purple ones. As soon as they did, Sunako's body went limp and she flopped forward into Emi's waiting arms. A small snore escaped her lips. Emi smiled down at the top of her head and gently stroked her black hair. Then she plucked a single strand and brought it away from the rest of them. Sunako huffed slightly, but her eyes stayed closed. Gently, Emiko moved her down to lie on the floor. Out of her pocket she pulled a small strip of metal and she started winding the strand of hair around it. When this was done, she slipped the metal back into her pocket and looked down at Sunako. She was curled up in a ball with a small smile on her face. Emi thought she was probably dreaming about zombies.

"I'm sorry,"Emi sighed, getting to her feet. That hypnotism technique she'd used meant that Sunako would be out of it for a while, so there was no reason for her to stay in the room. Besides, she wanted to talk to the people she'd met at lunch. They seemed like nice people. So, with her parasol in hand, Emi slipped out the door and into the hallway.

The building was dark as she tripped along the corridor and down the staircase. Emi smiled at this, she didn't have to hide behind her parasol and grope for a curtain which was always annoying. Emiko walked into the large foyer and looked around, wondering where everyone was. Then her eyes focused on one corner of the room. It was very dusty. With a small frown she walked down the corridor to the small cupboard in which she'd seen a broom.

"She won't mind if I do a little sweeping, will she?" Emiko looked around nervously and gripped the broom handle tighter, as if someone would leap out and steal it from her. When nothing happened, she started merrily sweeping the dust out of the whole floor. Her sharp eyes managed to see the small grains of dust and she attacked them with the broom. As she went, she hummed a song that her father had sang to her years ago.

"Oh please ne'er forget me though waves now lie o'er me, I was once young and pretty and my spirit ran free." Quietly humming the song, she didn't notice the door behind her opening until she almost stepped into a chink of light on the floor. "Ah,"she gasped, tumbling backward slightly.

"Oh, sorry,"a voice said, quickly shutting the door. "I forgot." Emi looked round in the voice's direction and saw a tall figure looking round in concern. Peering through the darkness, she smiled in recognition.

"Morii-kun,"she smiled, nodding her head in his direction. "Sorry, I was just sweeping." Emiko suddenly realised how ridiculous she sounded and looked with embarrassment down at the broom she was holding.

"Okay,"Morii frowned. "Weren't you watching a video in Sunako's room?"

"Um..."Emi blinked, turning slightly pink. Luckily, it couldn't be seen in the darkness. "It as the strangest thing. The movie ended and we were talking, then she just seemed to fall straight to sleep. Isn't that odd?" She giggled nervously.

The boy flicked a few strands of hair out of his face and looked up in the direction of Sunako's room. "She probably stayed up late last night playing video games,"he mused, shaking his head. "Not the first time."

Emi sighed in relief when he wasn't at all surprised. Then she bit her lip when she remembered the metal in her pocket. Quickly, she started sweeping again, glancing down at her pocket. Ranmaru leaned against the wall and watched her. Feeling his eyes on her, Emi bent her head down even further. Concentrating on what she was doing, Emi forgot about her aura. Without telling it to, one long, invisible tendril reached out and jabbed Ranmaru straight through the chest. He smiled.

"It's getting late isn't it?" He glanced down at a small watch on is wrist. "How long are you going to be staying?"

Emi jerked her head up and blinked a few times, trying to get her bearings. "Well, my brother's picking me up. But I don't know when." This was true. Shinobu had insisted on taking her home from Sunako's house. This was partly to make sure she got back safely, and partly to meet all the people in the house. Shinobu was a bit overprotective of his sister, Emi knew that, but she didn't mind.

"Ah." Emi looked up and saw Morii nodding. With an odd smile, he stepped forward and looked down at Emiko. Sh was suddenly struck by how much taller than her he was. Then all thoughts were driven out of her mind by Morii gently taking her chin in two of his fingers. Emi didn't know what to do in response to this, nothing like it had ever happened before. Then her eyes widened more when she saw his face getting closer. He was saying something in a very soft voce, but she never heard any of it. Her brain was panicking too much, trying to figure out what was happening. Blood rushed to her reddening face and her hands turned white as she gripped the broom handle tighter. It was when his their faces were barely three inches apart that Emiko sprang into action. Without thinking about what she was doing, she brought the broom handle up between them.

"Ouch,"Morii yelped when his jaw came into contact with the wood. Clamping a hand around his face, he straightened up. As soon as he did, Emi stepped backwards a few feet.

"Sorry,"she apologised with wide, timid eyes. "I'm really sorry. Did I hurt you?" She was asking this because Ranmaru was crying something about his 'precious face'. He was loud enough to cause the door behind him to open and another person to come running out.

"Ranmaru!"this second person cried, running over to his friend. From the darkness Emi had jumped to in order to avoid the light, she recognised the large eyes of Toyama. "Ranmaru, what happened?"

"It was my fault,"Emi admitted, raising one hand. "Sorry. I was sweeping and managed to hit Morii-kun's face with the broom. Sorry." She looked down at her feet in embarrassment. "Sorry."

The two boys sat in the beam of light, amidst Morii's cries, leaving Emi standing in the darkness. Her mind was reeling at what had just happened and she kept apologising. Although she had to try and get her brain in order to figure out just what she was apologising _for_...


	5. Chapter 5

**It took me a while to update this, sorry. I had my exams so most of my spare time was spent studdying. But now my exams are over and I'm going to try my hardest to update this more often. :)**

**Oh, and if you want to see what Shinobu looks like, I've put up a picture in my profile.**

--

"Wha's goin' on?"a voice mumbled. Emi looked up and was shocked to see Sunako wandering in on the scene. Her voice was slurred and she was rubbing her eyes, but she should have been fast asleep. Of course, Emi told herself, Sunako wasn't exactly ordinary.

"I hit Morii-kun in the face with a broom by accident and Toyama-kun is making sure he's okay,"Emi quickly explained. She decided not to mention the whole sequence of events that happened, at least not until she _herself_ figured out what happened. "You fell asleep."

"Yeah, sorry,"she murmured, wandering up to stand beside Emi. "I was just wondering when your brother was getting here."

It was almost as if he had been waiting for his cue, because as soon as Sunako said that, four loud knocks echoed from the front door. The drowsy girl meandered over to the heavy door and opened it, with Emi swiftly jumping back into the shade. Sunako didn't notice this though. She was staring up at the figure in the doorway.

Shinobu looked like his little sister in many ways. They had the same wide brown eyes, pale skin and light smile. They held themselves in the same straight-backed way and had similar mannerisms. However, Shinobu was taller and not quite as thin. His hair was darker and didn't wave like Emi's did. Then there was the fact that he had a more subdued air about him. He definitely looked like Emi, but it was these small differences which caused Sunako to stare up at him. You see, Shinobu was just as perfect as any of the four boys she lived with. And he was smiling down at Sunako.

"You must be the girl who befriended my sibling,"he said with a grin. He bent down and looked her in the eye for a few seconds, then laughed and nodded. "Yup, you're exactly how she described you." Unfortunately, Sunako was unable to respond. As soon as Shinobu had laughed she'd felt strange, and when he stopped speaking her face just burst. Or rather, her nose burst, splattering Shinobu's face with fresh blood. Then she collapsed backwards onto the floor.

"Sunako?" Emi leapt out from behind the door and knelt by her friend's side. She started frantically shaking her by the shoulders and tapping her on the cheek. Luckily, the sun had already set so there wasn't any light coming in from the door. But there was just enough light coming from some distant street lamps for her to notice the shadow looking over her.

"For God's sake. She always does this." Kyouhei had appeared from the kitchen at the sound of the doorbell and was standing over Sunako with crossed arms. With a muttered swear he scooped Sunako up under one arm and carried her off somewhere. Emi hoped she would be alright.

"I'm sorry about that,"Yuki said, running up to Shinobu and smiling sheepishly. There really was a lot of blood on Shinobu's face. "Um... Would you like to come in?"

"Thank you,"Shinobu said through gritted teeth. "But, I'm afraid I... can't." Then he turned and stumbled away from the house a few metres, batting at his face.

"I'm sorry Toyama-kun,"Emi sighed, watching her brother with a pained expression. "He's just a bit of a haemophobe. I'll go make sure he's okay." She moved to go out the door, then suddenly remembered the box she'd brought all the food in and ran back to get it. When she made her way out again she passed by Ranmaru who was still clutching at his face.

"I'm sorry Morii-kun,"she muttered as she went by. "If I were you I'd put some ice on your nose." Then she hurried onwards and out of the house, peering round the tower of boxes to see where she was going.

"Bye,"she called over her shoulder as she tripped down the front steps to where her brother was standing.

Shinobu was hunched over and was wiping the blood from his face and clothes with a handkerchief that was quickly turning red. There was a look of pure revulsion on his face as he did so and his eyes were clamped shut. Emi bit her bottom lip, knowing that her brother was suffering.

"Are you alright?"she asked him when he'd got most of the blood of and straightened up.

Shinobu took a shuddering breath. "Yes,"he said. "Yes, I'm fine." He looked down at the handkerchief he was still holding, wrinkled his nose, then stuffed it into the pocket of his coat. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out the small white tube of tablets. He gave one to Emi and took one for himself. The two siblings swallowed their pills at the same time, then started walking home. Shinobu took half of the boxes Emi was carrying.

"So,"he said as they walked down the dark streets. "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah,"Emi smiled. "We watched a movie and we talked. Those boys she lived with are really nice."

"I'm glad,"he smiled, ruffling her hair with one hand. They walked in silence for a few minutes, then Shinobu asked,"So did you the hair?"

Emi took the metal strip out of her pocket and held it up in front of her. Shinobu nodded and smiled slightly, but he didn't say anything. The two walked on in silence for a few more moments.

"She resisted my hypnotism,"Emi told him, frowning slightly as she thought about it. "I put her to sleep and she shouldn't have woken up until tomorrow morning, but..."

"Are you sure you did it right?"Shinobu asked, sounding surprised. He and Emi had both learned that technique years ago and nobody had ever resisted. People had always fallen asleep and hadn't woken up for hours. Why should this girl be any different?

"I know I did it correctly,"Emi told him, chewing her bottom lip. "She fell straight to sleep so I thought it was working. She shouldn't have woken up." Emi chewed on the finger of one of her gloves, looking down at her shoes nervously. Shinobu thought for a moment.

"Sunako isn't an ordinary human,"he said finally, making Emi look up. "Of course your hypnotism wasn't so affective. If it was then something would be wrong." He looked down at his sister and smiled encouragingly. "Sunako is special, so you have to treat her differently. If she was just another human then we wouldn't be here, would we?"

"I suppose not,"Emi agreed, blinking. "So is that why she was chosen?"

"I think so,"Shinobu said, thinking for a moment. "I haven't been told the exact reason, but I don't see what else it could be. Several gifted humans have been chosen in the past so it's not out of the ordinary."

"Well... It would be nice if there were other reasons why she was picked,"Emiko murmured. "It can't be a good thing if only the more powerful humans are chosen."

Shinobu sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I know what you're getting at, but can you think of it any other way?"

Emi shook her head, but didn't say anything. Shinobu looked down at her sorrowfully. Awkwardly, he pulled her into a one-armed hug.

"I'm sorry, Emi,"he murmured. "I know you're thinking of Sunako as your friend, but that will just make things harder for you. She's not your friend. She's just... She's just a present we're getting ready for someone else."

Emi nodded into her brother's shoulder. She knew he was trying to help her, but she didn't have the heart to tell him that it wasn't helping.


End file.
